Gas lift valve



July 7, 1953 BQBQ 2,644,404

GAS LIFT VALVE ed Dec. 21, 1951 INVENTOR. RA. 8050 fi wm f TTORNEVSPatented July" 7, 1953 Roy Alexander B'obo, Houston; Teihgassignor toPhillips. Petroleum Company, a. corporation of Delaware 1 ApplicationDecemberZl, 1951,.Sci'iaI No; 2621871 This invention relatestoelectrically "operated valves. In one aspect this invention relates tosolenoid valves. In another of its aspects this invention'relates togaslift valves suitablefor usein the recovery of oil from wells. I

' When suiiicient gas and "gas pressur *are no longer available from theo'il'producingreservoir tdm'aintain natural'fiow or oil" from atproducing well or when the flow'column loads-up with waten'the necessaryadditional volume of'gas'to maintain flow is-introduced into the tubingat the proper depth.- :This'gasis injected at'the well-head into thespace'between th tubinga-nd the'out'er casingiof the oilwell. Gas liftinjection and oil flowis usuallyaccomplishedwith the aid'of valveslocatedat spaced intervals along the tubing, an-dv'vhich'can be openedor closed to permit flow of'gastherethroughdepending on the oil level inthe well and the gas i-nput' pressure. Usually the volume of extraneousgas used is kept toa minimurn' bycontrol'of the'fiow valves, some typesofwhich are-automatic, and also by controlof theinput-gaspressure, or bya combination" of both. 'Duringthe-"gasliftoperation the oil'is eductedtogethenvzith the introduced ablefor' use with a tubingwherein'th'"interior 'of" the" tubing is" unobstructed. "It i another' object ofthis 'invention" to provide "'a valve which is capable of opening.against" the considerable pressure differential which' usually existsacrofssboth sides of the'valve head; {In at least"oneaspect of thisinvention at least one o'f"these:objects"-w1"l1 be obtained. a

The detailed construction and additionaradvantages and objects of thisinvention will appear more fully from the 'following .descriptiontand"accompanying drawing wherein a, preferred embodiment of 'thisinventionis .disclosedfIti should beu'nderstodd' however that the drawings anddescriptions are illustrative only. and are not tof be taken orconstrued as lim'iting'theinvem tion. v I In the drawings; Fig; lis. alohg itudinal 'cross'- sectional viewofaan apparatus of my'invention,

and Fig.2 is a cross sectional view of this appa- .2 ratus of myinvention"- takemalong the line"-2--2 ofFig. 1. Fig.3 iserorosssectionalview-ofa typical 1ost=motion-connection 1 between a. valve stem' and avalve" head "which is suitable in "anapparatus of' my invention.'Ihave'now provided an apparatus 'which advantageously' utilizes theannular" space between the'casin'g and the tubing'in agas-liftoperation. llnacco'rdance'with my invention, the solenoid of asolenoidoperated valve suitable for' use in a gas-lift operation is madeconcentric'with and surrounding the tubing. The'valve ifdesired may befitted intoa thickened-"section of" the tubing. Inthisflvay almost allthe space-between the tubing and thecasingiisusable for'theconstruction'of a va lve 'capable- 'of exerting considerable pull or force-and; eventhough the solenoid winding may occupy'more area for a'given'number'ofturns, the plunger-to which the valve head attached or 'fixed canadvantageously I be made with 'a largencrosssectional-area to-provide agreater force. The tubing is" preferably'made of I asuitable-non-magnetic"material at leastt-hat portion thereof incontactwith the valve and can 7 be *attachedto the "regular tubing string byscrew threads and collarsmouplings or any other suitable type ofconnection. Generally, *andin accordance with this invention the sectionor the tubing' adjacent to the'gas lift-valve is madeof a suitablenon-magnetic material-and is surrounded-by a concentric hollow core(plunger) to which is attached "at one end one or more valve stems.At'the-end' of the valve stem is attached a"suitable'valve'head. Thevalve head-is posi tionedto-close and search =a conduitw-hich is used"to introduce the oil-educting'gas from-'- the annular "space between thetubing and easing into the interior of the tubing. Surrounding'asubstantial portion of'the plunger (armature) is a solenoid windingwhichis employed tomove the dfgasflow from thaahnular space surrounding thetubing" through a conduit into the interior'of the tubing.

Referring now to the drawings and tol 'ig-l,

the invention and operation thereof being explained in conjunction withthisparticularem bodiment, a casing i generally indicated at It), andthe annular space between casing l and tubing H is indicated at l2.Surrounding a portion of the tubing is the plunger M which is made ofsuitable magnetic susceptible material such as iron, etc. Suspended fromand attached to plunger [4 is the valve stem which terminates at theother end with valve head {6. The connection between valve stem [5 andvalve head 16 instead of being direct and fixed may be a lost motiontype of connection so as to impart a hammer blow to the valve head so asto liftit off its seat when a high pressure differential exists acrossit. Surrounding a substantial por v tion of plunger I4 is solenoid I1and surrounding solenoid I1 is metallic housing or magnet l8. Magnet I8is shown screwed into adapter or coltween said tubing and said casing;gas inlet means arranged about said tubing comprising a plungersurrounding a portion of and slidably arranged on said tubing; a valvestem suspended at one end from said plunger and terminating at the otherend with a valve head, said valve head being adapted and positioned toclose off a conduit connecting the interior of-said tubing and saidannular space and a solenoid surrounding a substantial portion of saidplunger and permitting movement of said plunger between said tubing andsaid solenoid along said tubing.

2. In a gas lift system in combination, a well including a tubing withina casing, at least on valve comprising a plunger surrounding a portionof said tubing and adapted to move up and down thereon, gas nowcontrolling means at- "tached to said plunger and positioned andadaptlar 2| which is attached and fixed 'to' tubing'll."

In place of a collar or adapter a thickened portion of tubing H might beemployed. Plunger l4, solenoid H and magnet l8 are arrangedconcentrically around each other and are located within the annularspace between the tubing H and casing" 10. When solenoid I1 is energizedmagnetic forces are developed which cause movement of plunger 14 up ordown along tubing. This movement lifts or places valve head IS on or offseat l9 which is located within conduit of "adapter 2|. In operationwhen the windings of the solenoid are energized, plunger [4 togetherwith valve stem I5 is lifted so as to move valve head [6 off valve seatl9 and gas flows from the annular space between the tubing and casinginto the interior of the tubing via gas inlet 22. That portion of thetubing surrounded by plunger or armature I4 is preferably made ofnon-magnetic metallic material, the armature itself being made ofmagnetic metallic material. Magnetic housing I8 is provided to increasethe force exerted by solenoid l'i upon plunger i4. Magnetic housing l8as shown encompasses solenoid I! completely and is shown in contact Witha portion of the tubing ll. Magnetic housing [8 therefore acts as a stopfor plunger M. However any other suitable means such as the projectionalong tubing ll may be used as simple stopping means for plunger 14. V

Referring now to Fig. 2 which is shownfor reasons of clarity'and betterunderstanding of the invention, the reference characters therein denotethe same parts of the apparatus which are designated by similarcharacters shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 illustrates a'partial cross-sectionof this particular embodiment of my invention. Four valves ar shownspaced on the outside of the tubing. It is of course realized that anynumber of valves may be operated in combination with thi invention.

Figf3 illustrates" in cross section a typical, suitable lost motionconnection between the valve stem and valve head to impart a hammer blowto the valve head so as to lift it off its seat. In operation, whenvalve stem 15 is moved a hammer blow is imparted tovalve head l6 by theoutwardly turned flange of the valve stem when it hits the inwardlyturnedfi'ange 26 of the;

valve head.

As will be obvious .to those "skilled in th art upon reading thisdisclosure many modifications, improvements and substitutions arepossible without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure.

I claim: i

1. An apparatus comprising a casing; a section of b n t e n a e g1} gere? swab?- ed to control the flow of gas into said tubing and a solenoidsurrounding said plunger and adapted to move said plunger when thesolenoid is energized. V p I 3. A gas liftvalve comprising a tubing, gasfiow controlling means surrounding a portion of said tubing, slidablymounted thereon and positioned and adapted to control the flow of gas tosaid tubing, a solenoid surrounding a substantial portion of saidcontrolling means and for moving same and a magnet surrounding saidsolenoid.

4. An apparatus comprising a casing; tubing therein defining anannular-space between'said tubing and said casing, an armaturesurrounding a portion of said tubing and slidably mounted thereon, asolenoid surrounding a substantial portion of said armature anda magnetsurrounding said solenoid, said armature, said solenoid and said magnetbeing concentrically arranged with respect to each other and locatedwithin said annular space.

5. An apparatus comprising a casing,'a tubing therein defining anannular space between said tubing and said casing; a conduit connectingsaid annular space with the interior of said tubing; an armaturesurrounding a portion of said tubing and positioned and adapted to openor close said conduit and a solenoid slidably mounted on and surroundinga substantial portion of said armature, said armature and solenoid beinglocated within said annular space.

6. An apparatus comprising a casing; tubing therein defining anannularspace between said tubing and said casing; gas inlet means onsaid tubing comprising a hollow core surrounding a portion of andslidably arranged on said tubing, a valve stem suspended at one end fromsaid core and terminating at the other end with a 'valve head, saidvalve head being adapted and positioned to close'ofi 'a'conduitconnecting the interior of said tubing and said annular space, asolenoid surrounding a substantial portion of said core and a magnetsurrounding said solenoid and fixedly attached to said tubing, saidcore, said solenoid and said magnet being located concentrically withinsaid annular space.

7. An apparatus comprising a tubing; a hollow concentric plungersurrounding a portion of said tubing and slidably mounted thereon; aconduit extending through said tubing; a valve stem attached at one endto said plunger and termis nating at th other end with a'valve head,said" other end having a lost motion connection between said valve stemand said valve head, said valve headbeing positioned ,and adapted toclose slidable movement of said plunger therealong when said solenoid isenergized.

8. An apparatus according to claim '7 wherein a magnet concentricallysurrounds said plunger one end of said magnet being in contact with theoutside of said tubing and the other end of said magnet being in contactwith th outside of said plunger and positioned to permit movement ofsaid plunger when the solenoid is energized.

9. A gas lift valve comprising a tubing; a conduit extending throughsaid tubing; a concentric armature surrounding a portion of said tubingand slidably positioned along said tubing; conduit closing meansattached to said armature and adapted to close off said conduit; and asolenoid surrounding said armature.

ROY ALEXANDER BOBO.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

